In the past, it was much easier for politicians to avoid any meaningful dialogue with constituents while they were out on the campaign trail: to hide behind attack ads or to stick to carefully prepared key messages written by party spin doctors.

That is beginning to change, thanks to social media.

We, the citizens of Peterborough, can now do the following:

• engage with the political candidates on Twitter and on Facebook, asking that they run a campaign that is about issues and that they steer clear of personal attacks, half-truths, and hyperbole;

• insist that they provide factual, verifiable answers about their political record and that they spell out their plans for our riding in as much detail as possible;

• attend public events featuring the candidates and share audio and video footage of those presentations with our fellow voters via social media;

• write to the candidates about issues that matter to us and share their responses so that everyone can benefit from what we learn.

I intend to monitor the Facebook pages and Twitter feeds for Dean Del Mastro (CPC), Betsy McGregor (Lib), Dave Nickle (NDP), and the Green Party candidate (when that person is declared). I hope you will, too.

I hope you'll ask them questions and engage them in conversation so that, come voting day, you'll have a clear sense of which candidate will do the best job of representing the interests of the citizens of Peterborough Riding.